A: Our goals are very simple — to design and make better products. If we can't make something that is better, we won't do it.

Q: Why has Apple's competition struggled to do that?

A: Most of our competitors are interested in doing something different, or want to appear new — I think those are completely the wrong goals. A product has to be genuinely better. This requires real discipline, and that's what drives us — a sincere, genuine appetite to do something that is better.

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Q: How do you know you've succeeded?

A: One of the things that really irritates me in products is when I'm aware of designers wagging their tails in my face. Our goal is to create simple objects, objects that you can't imagine any other way. Get it right and you become closer and more focused on the object. For instance, the iPhoto app we created for the new iPad completely consumes you and you forget you are using an iPad.